Some paintball web site articles and
message board posts have recently been quoting an out of date World Cup
Rule change, misleading players and the public into believing that the
2002 NPPL rules are being modified for the 2002 Paintball World Cup.

This year’s World Cup begins on Sunday,
October 20th, and runs through Sunday October 27th. As usual, the
Paintball Sports Promotions event will feature NPPL sanctioned 5 man and
10 man tournaments, but this year it will also add two X-Ball tournaments,
one consisting of college teams from the National Collegiate Paintball
Association, and one consisting of professional teams.

Recent online attention has been drawn
to an out of date rule used at the Paintball World Cup in 1998. The
Smart
Parts Turbo mode was new that year, and some players argued that it
fit the NPPL rules definition of a semi-auto, while others argued that
it did not. At the time, the Paintball World Cup was produced by
Jerry Braun of Paintball Sports International (this was before the formation
of PSP). Since the NPPL rules hadn’t yet caught up with that latest
advance in technology, Braun ruled that enhanced trigger modes like Turbo
mode would be allowed, if restricted to 8.75 balls per second.

This change was never actually made
to the NPPL rules. For the 2000 season, the NPPL rules were modified
to more clearly define semi-auto firing in a way which made enhanced modes
like the Smart Parts Turbo illegal at NPPL sanctioned events.

While the temporary 8.75 bps rule modification
was only used at the 1998 World Cup, it continues to resurface and confuse
players and fans alike on an annual basis, because when it was initially
published on the paintballworldcup.com web site, it did not specify the
year for which it was written. Even though the web page listing the
rules change is no longer a part of the World Cup web site (worldcuppaintball.com),
and can not be found by clicking through the site's menus, the file is
still on the server at the time of this writing. Because of this,
other web sites and forums have been able to link to the page making it
appear legitimate, as worldcuppaintball.com is a part of its address.

In an online interview with WARPIG.com,
NPPL Rules Commissioner Bill Cookston confirmed the rules in use at the
Cup. “The 2002 Paintball World Cup will use the 2002 NPPL rules set
with no modifications,” Cookston said.

Cookston also has issued a reminder
of the league’s most recent rule changes to teams. These changes
include the following:

“1) No Metal
Cleats will be allowed on the field (5.07).

“2) There will be NO end
game chronographing – all players will be chronographed onto the field,
and players may be chronographed during an active game (7.1).

“3) When game suspensions
are issued to a player, the team will have to play short also unless the
offending player is removed from the team for a minimum of one year. Player suspensions will
carry over from tournament to tournament but teams will only have to play
short within the tournament that the infraction occurred (12.60).

“4) A live player
will be removed each time that eliminated player looks around or over the
elimination box during a live game (12.61).

“5) Scoring for five-player
game will be conducted on a 100 Point system and will be awarded as follows:(i) a team will be awarded
4points for every player on the opposing team eliminated;(ii) a team will be awarded
2 point for every player on such team not eliminated:(iii) a team will be
awarded 20 points if it pulls the center flag first; and a team will be
awarded 50 points when the flag is hung in its opponents’ flag station
(3.02)”

A current copy of the NPPL rules
can be found by following the rules link on the NPPL
page in the Tournament
section of WARPIG.com, The Official Internet Resource of the NPPL.
Team captains are advised to review these rules for any changes made in
recent years with which they might not be familiar.

The NPPL sanctioned competitions and
trade show, both of which are free of charge to the public, will be held
at the traditional World Cup site in Kissimmee, Florida. From the
Orlando International Airport, take the Beeline Expressway (Route 528)
West to Interstate 4. Take Interstate 4 to Exit 25A. Go East on Highway
192 approximately 2 miles to motel and go 2 more miles on Highway 192,
turn right on to Poinciana Blvd. And go 1.5 miles to site.

Alternatively during late afternoon
and early evening hours, the heavy Disney related traffic on I-4 can be
avoided by heading East from the Airport on the Beeline Expressway (Route
528) to the Florida Central Greenway (Route 417). Head West (South)
on 417 to 535 (the last exit before I-4) and head South. Turn right
(West) on 192 and left (South) on Poinciana Blvd to the Paintball World
Cup Site. This route adds distance, but can save time. All
of the main hotels associated with World Cup are on 192, located at or
west of Poinciana Blvd.

Some of the Paintball World Cup’s X-Ball
competitions will be held at ABC’s Wide World of Sports. To get to
the site from the main World Cup site and hotels, head west on 192.
Drive past I-4, and take a right turn (North) on Victory way into the main
Disney World complex. Turn into the main parking lot for ABC Wide
World of Sports and enter through the main entrance.

In past years there have been issues
at World Cup with alcohol being consumed by minors, this even led to one
sponsor being banned from exhibiting at the event. This year is the
first year that the tournament has been declared a “dry” event. Alcohol
will not be permitted on the property. Persons caught with
alcohol will be escorted from the site. Minors caught with alcohol
will be removed, as will the person giving them the alcohol. Paintball
Sports Promotions has given the vendors and exhibitors a guideline of conduct
for the event which places responsibility for alcohol and lewd behavior
in their areas in their hands. In response to these changes, Warped
Sportz, which teamed up with Angel manufacturer WDP to produce the first
“Heaven” paintball lounge at the 1999 World Cup has publicly announced
that it will be a no-show at the event. Ironically, Warped Sportz
owner Ed Poorman is also one of the owners of Paintball Sports Promotions.
(For more information, see the Warped Sportz press release HERE).

Stay tuned to WARPIG.com for on-scene
coverage of the NPPL’s 2002 Season Finale, Paintball World Cup.